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If The Strokes were frustrated by sound issues at All Points East on Friday, you couldn’t tell. The kings of New York indie remain heroically wedded to the blurry nonchalance of their 2001 debut album Is This It, a string of antsy, jangling earworms released months before 9/11. They occupy a soundworld of timeless urban malaise, untarnished by serious social concerns or clear diction — a sort of Barbieland for men who love Uniqlo and hate monogamy.
At 45, Julian Casablancas and his cohorts can still conjure the rakish magic of their Y2K heyday. As they sloped through a career-spanning set that ranged from classic hits to more recent material beloved by TikTok, you could be forgiven for thinking that the muffled vocals were deliberate.
With his oversized shades and devil-may-care yowl, Casablancas has a tinge of Tony Clifton, the obnoxious lounge singer created by comic Andy Kaufman. Throttling the microphone through fingerless gloves, he remained rooted centre stage for the 90-minute show, letting the hits speak for themselves in lieu of audience patter. For all the band’s studied detachment, this was a carefully constructed programme, with a crowd-pleasing tilt confirmed by a raucous version of “Last Nite” only three songs in. Punters seemed slightly stunned as the band’s biggest hit broke out, particularly given the businesslike clip of openers “What Ever Happened?” and “Alone, Together” — two more bangers that predate the second George W Bush administration.
The band’s radio-friendly, insistently louche sound cast a long shadow over the 2000s and indeed over their later work, making for seamless transitions into 2020 album The New Abnormal. “Let’s go back to the old key, old tempo, everything, OK,” rasped Casablancas in “The Adults Are Talking”. Guitarists Albert Hammond Jr and Nick Valensi remain masters of the style, rattling out the brusque, catchy chords of “Meet Me in the Bathroom” and the spangling fretwork of “Soma” with equal aplomb.
Post-situationship anthem “Automatic Stop” went down a treat with the younger crowd, sharp-elbowed, shirtless lads in their twenties muscling back and forth to the toilets. “I’m not gonna give it a break,” sang Casablancas, “I’m not your friend, I never was.” Apparently, several audience members had taken this attitude to heart. “Calm down love,” snapped one, rebuked for sloshing his pint over a knot of women.
Spirits improved with the anthemic “Someday”, its catchy, nostalgic chorus sounding uncannily like the studio version. Casablancas displayed his playful side with a trick question: “do you know the song ‘Fallacy’?” What followed was in fact an impromptu jam session, with Casablancas offering distorted musings through his microphone filter as drummer Fabrizio Moretti ground out his signature post-punk inflected beats.
The Strokes are at their best when turning Holden Caulfield-style grumbling into excitement, closing on a high with the electrifying yet familiar disaffection of “Reptilia”. “Is this it?” asked the song that ended the night; as the band enter their third decade, apparently it is.
★★★☆☆